“It’s a cat-eat-dog world out there.” That’s how one online bon vivant captioned this photo of a kitty munching on a classic Times Square footlong.
Pip the Beach Cat, a formerly feral feline, is now an up-and-coming Instagram star, with close to 4,000 followers. The 9-month-old ate like a real tourist on his first visit to New York City, poking his head out of his vibrant yellow carrier bag to down a dirty-water dog slathered in mustard.
“He didn’t eat the whole thing,” Pip’s cat lady, substitute teacher and waitress Emily Meadows, tells The Post. “But he eats lots of weird stuff.”
Rumor has it he likes his drink, too, with multiple newfound fans snapping pics of the underage partier on the bar scene and posting them on social media. “I enjoyed meeting Pip, even if he wasn’t old enough to be in the bar,” AM Radio Rules quips on Reddit. Others spotted him pussy-footing around “Saturday at like 5 p.m. by Rockefeller” Center.
Meadows and her engineer husband, Jack Bulak, both 28, adopted Pip in October, and he quickly rose to local celebrity status. “He’s the most famous thing in our hometown,” says Meadows, of Ocean City, Md.
Before meeting his forever family, however, Pip was a relative unknown. “He was down on the street and was really dirty and gross,” Meadows says. “The Humane Society couldn’t take him [because] they were full.”
Now, Pip has a travel blog — and an agent.
“That’s why we were in New York,” his proud momager says. “We had a meeting with an agent Monday to see if we could get Pip in TV or commercials or stuff like that.”
Pip proved himself a natural New Yorker on his visit. In addition to enjoying street meat, the 8-pound fluff-ball felt right at home on public transit.
“That cat got on the subway and was like, ‘Whatever.’ He fell asleep!” says Meadows. “He’s afraid of nothing.” The Staten Island Ferry was another great adventure for Pip, whose tabby fur nicely complemented Gotham’s big orange boat.
“Omg, did you get the Staten Island Ferry on Sunday?!?!,” Reddit commenter Vimariz raves about spotting Pip’s maiden voyage. “I was visiting NYC from the UK and saw you at the terminal! We thought your cat was so cute and well behaved. Mine would go crazy if I took him anywhere!”
During their visit, Pip’s crew lodged at Manhattan’s legendary Algonquin Hotel, where he met the latest resident kitty cat, Hamlet.
“Hamlet was very concerned that Pip was replacing him,” says Meadows. “He didn’t understand that Pip was just visiting.”
Despite some initial tension, though, the cats eventually got on like Dorothy Parker and Lillian Hellman. “Pip was a feral cat, Hamlet was a feral cat — and now they’re professionals,” Meadows says.
Next up: Pip is working on a children’s book guide to Ocean City, Md. — but he doesn’t have any hot dog recommendations on his home turf. “He only likes NYC hot dogs,” Meadows says.
